CMS Cameron McKenna

CMS Cameron McKenna LLP
Headquarters	Mitre House, 160 Aldersgate Street, London EC1A 4DD, United Kingdom
No. of offices	9
No. of lawyers	790
Major practice areas	General practice
Revenue	£225 million (2010/11)
Date founded	May 1, 1997 (London)
Company type	English limited liability partnership
Website
www.cms-cmck.com

CMS Cameron McKenna LLP (sometimes referred to as Camerons or, internally, CMCK) is an international law firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It has over 130 partners and offices throughout Europe.

The firm has a second London insurance law-focused office in Leadenhall Street, near Lloyd's of London.

CMS organisation of major European law firms

CMS Cameron McKenna is a founding member of the international CMS[1] organisation of European law firms. The organisation's firms are branded with the preface 'CMS' as part of their respective names but remain independent businesses. The acronym's letters derive from two of the founder firms, Cameron McKenna and Sigle (now CMS Hasche Sigle). CMS is a European Economic Interest Grouping (EEIG) and is managed by an executive committee based in Frankfurt, Germany.

CMS offices and associated offices

Through its members, the organisation has offices across Asia, Africa (Casablanca), South America and Europe, including: Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, London, Madrid, Paris, Rome, Vienna, Zurich, Aberdeen, Algiers, Antwerp, Arnhem, Beijing, Belgrade, Bratislava, Bristol, Bucharest, Budapest, Buenos Aires, Casablanca, Cologne, Dresden, Düsseldorf, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Kiev, Leipzig, Ljubljana, Lyon, Marbella, Milan, Montevideo, Moscow, Munich, New York, Prague, São Paulo, Sarajevo, Seville, Shanghai, Sofia, Strasbourg, Stuttgart, Utrecht, Warsaw and Zagreb.

The members of CMS are in association with The Levant Lawyers with offices in Beirut, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Kuwait.

CMS' member firms comprise:

• CMS Cameron McKenna (head office in London)
• CMS Hasche Sigle (Berlin)
• CMS Bureau Francis Lefebrve (Paris)
• CMS Adonnino Ascoli & Cavasola Scamoni (Rome)
• CMS Albiñana & Suárez de Lezo (Madrid)
• CMS Derks Star Busmann (Amsterdam)
• CMS von Erlach Henrici (Zurich)
• CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz (Vienna)
• CMS DeBacker (Brussels)

Practice and Sector specialisms

Practice Areas

The firm specialises in the following areas:

• Banking and International Finance
• Corporate and commercial
• Dispute resolution
• Competition
• Employment, Pensions and Immigration
• Energy
• Environment
• Infrastructure and Project Finance
• Insurance and reinsurance
• Intellectual Property
• Real estate and construction
• Tax

Sector Groups

The firm also operates along sector lines, focusing on the following industry groups:

• Consumer Products
• Energy
• Financial Services and Institutions – Banks, Insurers, Investment Business and Private Equity
• Hotels & Leisure
• Lifesciences
• Real Estate & Construction
• Technology, Media & Telecoms (TMT)

History

The origins of the firm date back to 1779 and the law practice of T Hewitt.

In 1997 Cameron Markby Hewitt merged with fellow City of London law firm, McKenna & Co, to form Cameron McKenna (renamed CMS Cameron McKenna in 1999). The firms of Cameron Markby and Hewitt Woollacott & Chown had merged in 1989 to become Cameron Markby Hewitt. Prior to that Cameron Kemm Norden of New Street, London, EC2, off Bishopsgate, merged with Markbys of London Wall, either in 1980 or 1981.

CMS Cameron McKenna took over Central and Eastern European law firm Hayhurst Robinson in January 2006.

The firm moved into its Mitre House headquarters in July 1998, near the Barbican.

Henry Markby, a name partner in legacy firm Cameron Markby Hewitt, is alluded to (usually in an unflattering manner) in a number of Oscar Wilde's plays, most notably in The Importance of Being Earnest, when Lady Bracknell says that her solicitors are Markby, Markby and Markby.

Markby, who was President of the Law Society of England and Wales in 1887, had fallen out with Wilde, a former friend for reasons unknown.

Present day

The partnership incorporated as a limited liability partnership in 2005.

The current Managing Partner of the firm is Duncan Weston. The Senior Partner is Richard Price. The firm has particular strengths in major projects and construction, project finance, oil and gas, hotel and real estate work. The firm's other main practice areas include banking, finance and corporate.

In the financial year 2007-08, CMS Cameron McKenna ranked 11th by turnover in The Lawyer's Top 100 list of law firms in the United Kingdom.[2]

The firm is regarded as one of the leading law firms in Central and Eastern Europe by Chambers Global.[3]

The firm concentrates its services in eight industry sectors - construction & development, project finance, life sciences, consumer goods, financial institutions and services, energy and utilities, hotels and leisure and technology, media and communications.

Corporate responsibility and pro bono work

CMS Cameron McKenna has a dedicated Corporate Responsibility team, encouraging pro bono work such as Hackney Schools Mentoring Programme and Reading and Number Partners Scheme, which has a very strong take-up from fee-earners and business services staff alike.

CMS Cameron McKenna's Charity of the Year for 2009/10 is Kids Company, and their staff raised over £110k for the Rainbow Trust in 2008/09.

External links

• Official website
• CMS Organisation Website

See also

• List of 100 largest law firms globally
• List of largest European law firms
• List of largest UK law firms

References